Blogging

Easy Connecting and Disconnecting: The Problems.

Ronovan Blogging, Thoughts , , , , , , , , ,

They come and go, sometimes without our even knowing it. The social connections, the tangible next door friend and the stranger a world away who friend in a click and are gone in another. Do people disconnect on a whim or is it for a real reason? What has the ease of Online Social Interaction and Easy Connecting and Disconnecting: The Problems.Disconnection done to us socially as a society and perhaps even morally?

Thinking about things like this puts a knot in my stomach I can’t get rid of until I sort it out through words. Admittedly when I have someone disappear from my social network of “friends” I don’t always ask why. I know the coming and going is a part of the world and of this modern way of forming connections. But sometimes I do wonder.

On Facebook you must deal with people you’ve allowed into your circle of reality. When those people decide to drop you, then you wonder what happened. There is no explanation and thus the knot in the stomach begins. And dropping is the feeling that one may feel.

“What did I do?”

That’s the question that comes to mind first. For me my online social connections are my lifeline. When I lose one it rattles me somewhat and I dwell a little bit.

For someone like me, when someone, especially a female, decides to no longer be a friend you then wonder that very question above. Then you wonder what has been said. I’m a pretty appropriate guy when it comes to online social communications. Maybe in the past I’ve had moments. You would have to ask that old me. Like the one from a few days ago. That’s about how far some of my memories go.

Those social contacts keep the memory lines open. A lot of people don’t realize it but for some of us we may visit various social platform profiles in a rotation to keep people familiar to us. For a memory problem sufferer it can be important. A disconnect can throw things haywire in a major way, especially for someone who is sensitive and has actual feelings.

What has easy detachment brought about in society?

For one there is a lack of working through a problem. A person now unfollows a person and the argument or discord is over. Or it is as far as the un-follower is concerned.

In the celebrity circles it’s an easy way to get publicity and start a celebrity feud to drive up public interest in yourself. Pick the popular flavor and attack them and people will then take notice of you if you have begun to slip in notoriety. VMA awards anybody?

But for the rest of us it is more than a platform. We may have thousands of “Friends” or “Followers” but we have a lot in the offline world, the online world may at times be like a phonebook of all our old and new friends. Facebook is like that for me.

With the not needing to finish a conversation, or work out a situation, society is slowly becoming less and less able to resolve conflicts to the needed end. They still float around and build up into a frenzy. You can look at society and see how things spread like wildfire but no one ever took the time in the very beginning to try to stop it from happening—they went straight into the fire.

When once we had the chance to think overnight and arrive at some common sense we now have people go off onto Twitter or Facebook and speak emotionally.

I mentioned morality.

The ease of online sharing of EVERYTHING with ANYBODY has brought about many problems, even its own show—Catfish. If you have one person you share something with because of distance, I get that. Some relationships are separated by miles because of many reasons. And I do believe there are cases where online capabilities has made for some relationships to stay close and survive instead of drift apart during times apart.

But online has given some this sense of power and invulnerability that one can say and do anything without repercussions. They carry that over into offline life and you can see in society how some things spread and get out of hand. When certain agencies need social media experts just to do their jobs properly I think we have a problem.

I am thankful for online social connection. But I do have problems at times with the Disconnectors. But I suppose we all do it at some point. It’s easier than facing someone and telling them whatever the problem is. If you ever get disconnected by me, put it down to a memory thing. I pretty much stay connected to everyone. Well, unless you are like an uber-jerk. You know who you are. Muahahahahaha.

(Um, that last part was a joke people. So stop thinking it was you I was talking about. Paranoid much?)

There of course is the idea of Ease of Social Connectivity leading to Societal Disconnect. That’s another topic my thoughts are circling around and I may discuss another time.

What do we do?

Keeping a protective barrier is one idea. By barrier I mean have emotional security checks in place people need to pass through before entering that real Easy Connecting and Disconnecting: The Problems.“Friend” circle. Not everyone will hang around but using our mind and not heart will protect that heart. Yes, I know…sometimes that heart is going to take over. And sometimes it will be correct. But with the majority, treat your heart and self like you would treat a child in your care and who you would allow them to be with. In other words, Guard Yourself by taking your time in who you let into your private circle of true friends and remember that social network is like social anything, it’s just an every now and then thing. Just like social drinking though, it can get you in trouble.

Oh, and write a lot about a lot of things. That always helps. I mean who can socialize when they write all…the…time. I’m looking at you, and you know who you are.

Much Respect

Ronovan

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

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@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

10 Tips to Make Blogging Enjoyable. Traps to Avoid.

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Sometimes you start to blog, not having blog tips as warnings, you are all excited and you do things to your blog or that involves blogging that ultimately end up being traps that are like quicksand. They drag you down and deplete you of energy as you work to pull yourself out of what has happened.

What you do with your blog is ultimately up to you, because you want your blog to BE you. It represents part of you that you want to put out there.

Today I want to cover 10 things, traps if you will, that will cost you time, cause you weariness, and create misery. Knowing these things ahead of time might be able to save you. As a blogger now, you can maybe head these things off before they get out of hand. Or if you’re neck deep already, perhaps these 10 tips will give you a start on figuring out what has happened to you.10 blogging tips image#1 Sidebar Craziness or Widget Weary

Whichever you want to call it, those sidebars with all those widgets can have side effects you never thought of.

  1. So crowded no one can see what’s there.
  2. So many graphics it slows loading of the blog page down.
  3. Your page looks like an ad for everything, even though you’re not selling anything. Big turn off.

But does that mean sidebar widgets are bad? Of course not.

  1. If you’re advertising something, go for it, like authors want to get their books out there. But some advice to authors: Switch up those images and their order. Maybe even change the side of the screen your sidebar is on. Why? It makes return visitors look around for what might have changed.
  2. The same thing goes for book reviewers or people who have guests on their blogs.
  3. But if your blog is geared toward images, then widgets won’t make a difference.

Remember, graphics on a blog slow it down loading and slow loading may lead a reader to do one of two things.

  1. Leave because they clicked you on impulse.
  2. Leave because they think something is wrong with your page or their browser and then they’re gone.

One thing about your Widgets you may not realize is that many are never even clicked on. I moved my Widgets to my footer areas and I am still working on their order. But my main goal is to make them useful ones. Which ones do I think are most useful?

  1. Most Recent Posts
  2. Most Popular Posts
  3. About.me
  4. Follow me
  5. Search

Those are off the top of my head. Why am I not going to look for other Widgets? Because those are the ones I remember, which says a lot to me, and look for on other blogs. For some blogs the only way I can find their posts is by using their Most Recent Posts Widget.

#2 Image is Everything, or so your Blog says.

Yes, I am still on images. I try to go minimal with images in my post these days unless I’m just having a moment and decide to go crazy. We all do that at times. That’s fine. Images is a sometimes food. Wait, that’s cookies. I warn you, I’m very visual media oriented today. Weird quotes may show up at anytime. Forgive me in advance.

But regardless, keep in mind that many or most of your Widgets are never clicked on. I like the Most Recent Posts and perhaps the Favorite Posts Widgets. Of course you want a Follow Me Widget and a Search one. Notice these are not graphic intensive and are useful.

A tip about Images: Keep in mind how large your image is in reference to how much storage space it uses such as 250 kb or something like that. The larger the file, the more time it takes to load. Sometimes you need to use high definition image. But then there are times you can optimize your image size and still have great definition. Visit 5 Image Things to Know for SEO for more information about this.

#3 The “I want to be cool” blog moment.

We’ve all done it. Okay, so I’ve done it several times. We do these crazy color schemes and then the possible results begin.

  1. People are scared and run away, okay they click away.
  2. People can’t read because of the color scheme. Check out what color blind people can’t see. A tip here. If you have links make sure to underline them and possibly bold them to signify they are links. Most people understand underlined words signify a link is in those words.
  3. The look doesn’t match the content. By this I mean the feel you have created just doesn’t fit.

Your theme style, color and header need to match what you are promoting. Promoting? Yes, you are promoting your posts, as in you. Will my current theme, layout and everything work for what I am promoting? Maybe, maybe not. I experiment. That’s one thing those of us who for some odd reason think we can give blogging tips do, we are the experimenters. I even have a test blog where I play around with themes to see what they look like and can do.

#4 The Following Frenzy

Yes, we follow, follow and follow even more. For some it’s a trick to get followers and for some it’s a reflex in following people in return. What do you end up with?

  1. If you are WordPress then you have a Reader so full you can’t get through everything.
  2. You have so many “friends” you can’t make any FRIENDS.
  3. You get caught up in the needing to get more and more followers as the Following Frenzy engulfs you.

If you’ve fallen into Follower Frenzy spend 10 minutes each day cleaning up that Follow list. (I might actually take my own advice.) Also you can make sure to follow those ones you really do like by subscribing to their email notifications until you do clean up your list.

#5 I’m Gonna Be Better Than That Guy

Competition in blogging is a thing. You may experience it for a brief moment. Once you do believe me when I say that your readers will notice and some might get turned off. There was a time, prior to two years ago when I had a concussion that brought some reality to my world, when I was competitive. It worked for the big job I had way back when, but for life in general, blogging specifically, it just doesn’t work for me.

  1. Most bloggers are not here to, or at least don’t start out to, be some guru or god of blogdom. Sure, we all want to be read and be popular to some extent but in the beginning we all have that little bit of reality, until we begin to see followers happen and the comments and then we see someone else like our blog who is sort of competition.

They aren’t. You just keep writing, write honestly, and write well.

#6 No One Really Likes Me (Insert Frowny Face, Tear.)

We don’t get the views each day, the follows, the likes. We begin to think no one likes us. We visit blogs and we think how much better our posts are than those. We wonder why no one likes us.

  1. You’re new. Be patient.
  2. Veteran blogs sometimes put out content that is perhaps not as well done as their usual content. Why? Time. Goofiness for the day. Lack of inspiration after blogging for so long.

Don’t worry about them. Don’t WORRY about anyone, including yourself. Just keep writing, write honestly, and write well.

#7 But I HAVE to post because my readers will miss me.

Man, this is a tough one, for new and veteran bloggers alike at times. There is this sense of responsibility to our readers. We think they are just waiting for us to post something and if we don’t they may never visit again. Um, do you do that to blogs you follow? Chill dudes and dudettes. I’ve been in the hospital, been sick, had a laptop go down and people still find me, and they still return. Why? I think in part because I’ve built a community that have my blog in common and met through my blog. Did it happen overnight? Nope. It takes time. Patience. What do I do to build a community and keep readers?

Just keep writing, write honestly, and write well.

#8 Size Matters! BIGGER IS BETTER

We discover how to change the font size and we go crazy at first. It’s not a good thing. You should really only use a different sized font for a heading of a section/topic. Think of how I have been using font size in this article. I know sometimes we will use all sizes of fonts, but make that a rarity. Looking at a page full of every size of font imaginable gets eye weary. Also by using your font sizes in a uniform way throughout your articles, you somewhat train your regular readers to know what to expect. And you do need those section headings at time to break up long passages of text.

#9 My Writing Is Amazing and I am an Original and need not worry about standards.

Have you run across those blogs where the entire thing is one paragraph and about 700 words long? Punctuation is by accident? Capitalization happened because of auto-correct somewhere along the way? Do you know how many times I return to those “I am an Original”?

I’m not saying don’t do it that way. If that’s what you are wanting to do and are going for a certain atmosphere, go for it. Some make a success of it. But it takes a certain type of writing to make it work. For most blog readers, they want to click and be able to read and have a pleasant experience without having to figure out what in the world or how in the world they are reading.

#10 I have to write like this because they expect it.

No, I’m not referring to #9. This is about writing about certain topics or in certain styles. There may come a time in your time blogging that you no longer want to blog about whatever it is that got you started. You have two choices.

  1. Start another blog.
  2. Or just start writing what you want to on your current blog.

I’ve written about just about everything here on Ronovan Writes. But then I did choose a good title for the blog to be able to pull that off. I have hits and I have misses and misses and misses. I’m not trying to build a blogdom here.

I simply write what I feel like writing in that moment.

That is the greatest blogging tip you will ever get from anyone. That’s not a brag. That’s telling you like it is. If you write things you don’t care about you are faking it and faking it can be picked up on quickly by blog readers. Some people write about blog tips every day. That’s something they find fascinating. I couldn’t do that and keep it sounding real. Well I might, if I had broken this one down into one per day.

That’s it for me today. 10 things bloggers get trapped into at some point. 10 things to watch out for and avoid. Avoid those traps and you’ll have a pleasant blogging experience for a long time to come.

This article goes somewhat hand in hand with another of my articles I wrote sometime ago called How to Survive the Blog Life. It’s the number one article on my blog.

Much Respect-Much Love

Ronovan

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

5 New Things About RonovanWrites Blog and Why. #Blog #Tips

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s time to take a look around the blog. I know those of you who regularly visit have noticed the changes, but here is the official unveiling, and shame to those who peeked.

First, why the change?

Everyone needs a fresh start at some point and it was about time. I could get into some marketing and even managerial reasons, and I might as we go, but for now, let’s leave it as I just needed a change. Maybe as I talk about each change I’ll mention the why.

The Header

I have a header finally. What? Ronovan Writes didn’t have a header before? Nope, it was all in the header image. Now I have the image from my Haiku Challenge that I like so much gracing the abode on a grander scale. Well…at least until I get to learning how to be artistic with my new laptop!!! Why did I change? I decided it was time to be less me centric in the look and I wanted a brighter feel to things. My purpose for this blog isn’t such that it requires anything specific. I’m going to have fun.

No sidebars here.

But all the old information is still here to find, just scroll to the bottom and it’s all in the footers now. Did you really think I would do away with talking about myself and advertising ME completely? Shame on you. No sidebars gives a larger feel to the reading area, cleaner appearance, and simply has that inviting look as far as I am concerned. But then again, to each their own.

Blog Tip

One thing to think about if you change locations of your Widgets and that is the  width of any of your Widgets that have images related to them. If they are too wide then they throw everything off. If you don’t see your Widgets when you change, check that width and reduces to a small size for the moment. Then check your main page again.

Only 5 Posts on Main Page

With the Footers added I decided to limit the number of posts appearing on the landing page to 5. This allows for quicker loading time for the blog and isn’t too much to look at. Also, a reader can get to the Footers a bit faster.

I’ll be doing some other changes slowly to move to as professional and peaceful appearance as I can. That’s what I am going for. I want peace. With a dash of explosions and excitement at the same time. Kind of like Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot. Hey, I saw what I saw in that movie, you see what you want to see. Agreed? Good.

Want to read my best Blog Tip article lately, How to Hashtag Blog Tweets? Click here to visit my guest post on Hugh’s Views & News where you can also check out some great tips of his own while you’re there.

Much Respect-Much Love

Ronovan

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Finding Time to Blog. Huh?

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(A post from my drafts folder to share until my laptop arrives.)

“My blogging life is basically goalless. I like the zen nature of that, and paradoxically, it improves results.”~Seth Godin

I’ve been asked in the past about how to find time to blog. Do you have time to ask me that question? If the answer is yes, you have the time to blog. Do you have time to read a blog? If the answer is yes, you have time to write a blog. I don’t think people are really asking me about time. Then what are they asking me about?

“How do I come up with ideas?

“What do people will like to read?”

“Ronovan, WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?!”

I have no idea what you should write about. Why? Because I’m not you. But I suppose like any other blogging non-expert I can tell you what I have done.

The truth is when you first begin to blog you might end up writing about a lot of different things until you find what you are most comfortable with. I was heavy into some dark poetry. It was basically a time I was dealing with my amnesia and before being diagnosed and treated for various health issues. But a great many people identified with it. I have no idea why nor did I attempt to keep writing it in order to keep a certain audience.

I can’t write poetry quite like that now because I am in a much better place. I obviously didn’t give up blogging or writing poetry. Now I write whatever comes to me, regardless of subject or audience. It’s my blog. Thus I blog what I blog.

The first thing you need to decide, once you get down to actually wanting to write a blog post is to decide your purpose for blogging.

Your purpose.

Is your brain hurting yet? Don’t worry, it isn’t that bad. It’s just that some people have blogs for professional or semi-professional reasons. My blog has many purposes.

Some people want to share a hobby, some a cultural or family history. Well things based on that culture.

Many like to explore writing. This one is greatly accommodated here in WordPress. There are many blogs with writing prompts you use and then link back to the original prompt and receive some visitors to your blog. Of course the Daily Post also has prompts. My Haiku Challenge is a Daily Post Event.

WordPress also holds Blogging 101 and 102 to help people get started. I personally found my own way to where I am. Personal interests will lead you to your topics.

If you like a topic then most likely there are others who do as well.

After Your Purpose.

If you are blogging for professional reasons, stick to that topic. People will be visiting you for that specific reason. As for a blog of whatever, much like mine, stay honest and real…you can’t go wrong. People will pick up on fake every time.

As for time?

You can speak more words in 5 minutes than you think. Just type. Don’t write to your audience…talk to them. You don’t have to entertain, simply share. You don’t have to have long posts. They can be no more than 300 words if you like. I did that for a time. I kept my posts under 300 words. It was an exercise in writing as much as it was in not having to write long posts.

“There are 100 million blogs in the world, and it’s part of my job as the co-founder of WordPress to help many more people start blogging.”~Matt Mullenweg

More to come another time. Hope this helps a little for now.

Much Respect

Ronovan

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

#Help for RonovanWrites deadline

FlorenceT Blogging, Fibromyalgia/Chronic Pain, Life, Writing , ,

Well it has to happen… there must indeed be a deadline to the campaign to help Ronovan.

Ronovan thanks everyone who has supported the campaign for a new laptop so he can return to writing, blogging, and being with his blogging community.  He has asked me to end the fundraising at the end of Tuesday, 11 August, as he wants to get back sooner than later even if the goal amount has not been met.  He will purchase the best he can with the amount raised.

Psst, I don’t think he likes the idea of needing help and wants this to end soon. Now someone find me an emoticon for ‘rolling her eyes’ on WordPress? 🙂

Anyway, there you go people, you have till the end of Tuesday, 11 August to help in whichever way and in whatever amount you can.  Click on this link to contribute and read the full story of why he needs his laptop. It’s not just for blogging.

Don’t know what I am talking about? Read this post and help out.

Thanks everyone!

– FlorenceT

Meet The Bloggers Who Attended The First Annual #BloggersBash Held In London on August 1st, 2015

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My reblog for today. Yes, I stole the tablet while son works on summer project. Did a few RTs on Twitter so I could be of some use.

Thanks to those who have donated for a new laptop so far. Florence set a goal that would get me something nice and give me freedom again. I can’t tell you how moved I have been. Well the migraine is spiking from using this thing and typing on a screen with knuckles is harder than you think. (I can’t unclench fists due to the arthritis and fibro sometimes but I keep writing anyway,or did.)

Much Love to All
Ronovan

VOTING NOW OPEN – Annual Bloggers Bash Awards

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Go vote for your favorites for the First Annual Blogger Bash Awards.

Sacha Black's avatarSacha Black

Who-will-you-vote-for-

You nominated in your hundreds – literally! I had to enlist a committee of fabulous bloggers (Ali, Geoff and Hugh) to help organise all the nominations and sort them into this, the official voting post. To find out more about the #BloggersBash event have a look at this, this or this.

11733474_10207031963138573_162371955_nBefore we begin voting, there’s one more thing to add. The lovely Geoff decided we needed to stand out from the crowd so that y’all can find us at the British Library on the 1st August. So he has ordered some Annual Bloggers Bash t-shirts. The committee will be wearing them, but it was cheaper to bulk buy, so inevitably we have spares. SO, if you win one of the awards then a t shirt is yours! But if you would like a t-shirt anyway then they will be £6 on the day. Geoff is…

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The Annual Bloggers Bash Awards – Join Us On August 1st 2015

Ronovan #BeWoW, Blogging , , , ,

My #BeWoW Post this week.

The best tip I have to get Blog Traffic.

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , ,

Thought I would give the biggest and best tip I have about blogging views and traffic today. But you’ll have to wait a moment for it.

I’ve seen so many posts/articles that go on about how if you post like this or that and during these hours and the like you will get a lot more views. To some extent they are correct.

I’ve written articles about where the views come from as in do the source of the clicks to your site come from Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or whatever.

But here is the honest deal to it all. The more friends you have that know about your site and read your site the more people you have share your articles elsewhere.

I don’t share my work in many places right now. Twitter is pretty much it, and Tumblr by default. Really those two are defaults built into my blog. But I get views from other sources. Facebook is one. I rarely share an article on facebook, yet I get a decent number of views from there, well on average they are okay, but not like stellar. But for not even using facebook for the purpose of sharing my articles, getting views from there is pretty good. Same goes for Reddit.

You see, your focus should be on writing great content and making great friends. Doing that means you end up with a great blog. Those great friends share your work with their friends. Is that why you make those great friends? No. It is a side effect of doing what you are supposed to do on your blog-Write Great Content.

What is great content? That’s all dependent upon the writer. Do I have great content? I’m not sure. I write from the heart and mind and leave it at that. I don’t make the effort to weave a tapestry of words that will enthrall people. This article, for example, is all stream of thought and won’t be edited. This is it, how I think and how I write.

The content you come up with may end up being a poem, a short story, a blog tip or a challenge of some type. But the truth is, if you are writing those just to get traffic on your blog then people will know it. Thus, it’s not great content.

When I get a lot of traffic on my blog, it’s an accident. I don’t really post at the best times or anything. I post at midnight sometimes which is an awful time to do so and I get hit by 200+ clicks for that article.

You want lots of views to your site, lots of traffic? Write and make friends. Forget all the headaches of research. Yeah, read the advice, but don’t get caught up in all of it too much. Focus on those two things I mentioned and you’ll end up just fine.

Much Respect

Ronovan

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© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Blog Tip: Be A Free Blogger or Go Super Nova.

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Caught in a trap. Can’t walk out. Cause I . . .  wait, um, let me start this again.

What is a Free Blogger?

We’ll get there, if I remember.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you can’t walk away from something because of responsibilities? I’m not talking about relationships, but you can probably take this along that same line.

When you have been blogging for a period of time something will happen. That something is called inspiration. You will develop these ideas, then–there you are—commitment.

You get these ideas that would make great blogs, great community building ventures. You see a support blog that NEEDS to be created.

These things are all well and good, whatever that means, but count to a million aloud and then see if it still sounds good. If it does, hold your breath to the count of a million.

The great authors and creators of the world do something I find interesting. When an idea comes to them, they don’t write it down. If in six months the idea is still with them, they go with it, if not then it wasn’t that great of an idea.

If you spread yourself too thin you become just that—thin. Your blog content becomes weak and your ability to connect with people suffers. I’ve been fortunate that in my one main inspired venture, Lit World Interviews (LWI) has a team taking up my slack. You see, I love authors. I mean LOVE them. I am one, and I know the agony of feeling you are alone and searching for help. Thus LWI was created and now a sister blog Authors Supporting Authors (ASA).

LWI runs because of that team, not because of me. I don’t even need to exist for it to be there. And it is a way for the Team members to have another outlet and help people once a week. ASA runs when people tell me they have a need. I just realized that as I wrote it. I had felt badly about how slowly ASA is moving. It has a good number of followers for such a young blog, but the activity is not that great. And now I am fine with it.

But the problem comes when you commit to an endeavor that takes you away from the love of what brought you to blogging. One thing to always ask yourself—if you don’t love blogging, then why are you still here? That means if you are doing all these different things and are feeling pressures you are now doing a job, and part of blogging is to get away from pressures. I know some do blogging as a job or to build a platform but that is a bit different.

One thing about LWI is that it’s a volunteer thing. The members write when they like to write. Two of them have somewhat of a schedule they keep. I’ve given them days that are theirs. That means only they can post on those days unless I have something that needs to go out. But no other team member can post on those days. But if they don’t post, they don’t post. If they don’t post, I worry, but I’m not concerned about there being no post, just the fact they always do and I am worried something is wrong.

Having so many blogs going on, and guest posts to do will cause a major problem. That problem is you find you don’t have the mental energy and at times the physical energy to do things on your personal blog that you want to do. I’m into cartooning a bit now. It takes a lot out of me physically in many ways. I feel guilty because of commitments I’ve made in other areas, and that is part of the strain on me mentally. And no, if certain people are reading this I’ve agreed to guest post for, I don’t mean those guest posts.

Be a free blogger.

That means:

  • Don’t get tied down to anything in blogging that will take away from the release blogging gives you.
  • If you want to do something like LWI or ASA, become part of something that exists already.
  • Groups are a great thing. The more you have the less each person has to do.
  • The less each of you have to do the more you can do on your own blog and still have that sense of helping in something else.

You are thinking that you like to control things or you want it done your way.

  • Start in a group.
  • Learn.
  • Discover if you do want to do this for the long haul.
  • If so, then do one of your own.

Excitement is great in blogging, but you want to keep that excitement. One sure way to lose it is to use it up like a super nova.
Much Respect

Ronovan

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A Blogging Tip.

Ronovan Blogging , , ,

It’s time to take a step back. I notice a lot of people looking at wanting to know how to increase the number of people that follow them on a blog or on Twitter or some other social media outlet. Is that why you first created a blog? Or first chose THAT name for your Twitter Handle? Did you choose @psychochix666 hoping it would attract people to you? Your blog is called myrandomthoughtsaboutstuff. Very enthralling and makes me want to head right on over.

Ronovan Writes is not exactly a “come and meet me” blog title. It’s just what I do. But we all get caught up for a time in the numbers for a moment as people start following us and we see our numbers get close to a certain cool looking number. Then we go nuts.

For a time we begin writing anything we think will draw people in. There is a problem in that. Once you do that you have to keep doing it. Do you really want to write about different ways of using pickles in a dish every Thursday? “Here’s the Dill.” You could call it that. But then you are stuck with it.

At some point this place you created to be you, to share you ends up being a job. You have to do things on certain days. If you don’t do things just right you get people complaining. The place for fun and pouring yourself out has turned into another box/cage to keep you held down and away from the freedom you first felt as you published those first couple of weeks.

It’s not all your fault. You blogging support encourages it with goals and awards. They make out like creating a following is what blogging is about. They make you think blogging is a game of who can get the most followers. To win you must have big numbers.

When you forget why you came here is when you lose. You have fallen in to the trap.

Do you have fun with your blog? Is each post something you want to do? I have a Haiku Challenge I hold each week and I wonder at times if the people really want to do it or if they do it because they have been. That’s a dangerous thing to say because if they are reading this and then decided it is just a habit and not a joy, they will stop.

But I want people to enjoy blogging, even if that means they don’t read my posts or participate in my challenges. Happiness is the purpose of writing. Even if we are writing the most miserable things imaginable we are doing it to get it out of our souls to make room for positive things.

I am well aware there is no time for negativity, misery, or anything like that in life. We are here for a limited time, and there are moments when you come close to that time being up and you realize you should not let anything pull your joy from you.

Sharing you and your honest self will bring people to you—if that’s what you want. I blog with the philosophy of writing what I want to write. My choice of theme for the recent A to Z Blogging Challenge for April is proof of that. I’ve been enjoying it so much even though there are moments of frustration and I will be happy when it is done. I have ideas for it.

I haven’t caved to the numbers game. I’ve written what I like and moved on to the next thing I want to write that I like.

Like what you write. That’s all that truly matters in blogging. Anything else you do is fake.

With all of that being said, for this, my personal blog, with these personal posts, I’m doing away with my traditional “Let’s connect”, ending with my twitter, facebook, and google+ addresses. Those things are elsewhere to find on the blog. I’m here to enjoy.

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

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How To: Do Page Jumps-Return to Top of Page. Updated to make it Simpler.

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I’ve been doing something called Page Jumps on my articles lately and I’ve had requests how to do them. So here I am. Page Jumps are when you do things like click on something that says Return to Top and it takes you to the top of the article.

Here are the Codes to use to have your Readers Return to the Top of page by clicking on those words. Make certain to do this in your Text Tab of your Post Editor.
AND where you see quotation marks that look backwards? They should face the words. They appear backwards here due to the color fonts. I know it sounds crazy but apparently the quotation marks are prioritizing the font stuff over the text stuff. Go figure.

Anchor Code-It goes at the very top of your article.
<a id=”Top“></a>
Go To/Return to Top Code-It goes where you want the Reader to be able to click.
<a href=”#Top“>Return to Top</a>

Don’t worry about the colors. That’s just something I have from later in the post where the red is what you leave alone, and the blue is what you can change. The Reader won’t see the colors. Just the words Return to Top in that second code.

That’s the simple way without any explanation of how things work. You can do it and things are fine. If you want to understand more, keep reading. You can bail out of here any time you like.

 

If you’re still with me, I’ve been using a lot of references and instead of having all the links and colors filling up the body of the article/post, I decided to go with a little more professional look.

I am going to break this up into different posts for different Titled jumps, even though they are all basically the same.

Today will be

How To: Include a Return to Top of Page “Page Jump”.

I’ll be honest with you. If you can do this, You can do any of the other Page Jumps I will discuss later in the series. But I’m not going to clutter up things with too many things at once.

You need two pieces of HTML Script/Code to do the Return to Top Page Jump. I gave them at the top but don’t worry they appear several times in the article. You saw how simple they are.

Bur first there are things to remember about HTML:

  • Always use HTML in the Text Tab of your Post Editor. It will not work in the Visual Tab.
  • When going through this article, all Red Bold Text is what is to be left alone. Blue Plain Text within the HTML Code is what you can change to meet what your need.
  • Save often if doing a lot of HTML Code.
  • Always open an HTML Code intensive post in the Text Tab. 

The following is how the Codes appear in a generic form, before you do what you want to them. I will also call the codes by these two Titles throughout this series but without the word Generic.

Generic Anchor code:

<a id=”unique-identifier“>words for reader to see</a>

Generic Go To code:

<a href=”#unique-identifier“>words for reader to see and click</a>

For Return to Top of Page, the Codes will end up like this.

Anchor code:

<a id=”Top“></a>

Go To code:

<a href=”#Top“>Return to Top</a>

Let’s talk Anchor Code a moment. You can now copy and paste the Anchor Code to the top of your post before everything else, even with the colors. Remember  no one will see the colors or anything else. The only way anyone can see the Anchor Code is if you put in something between the ><. And even then they don’t see the actual code itself.

Place the Go To code anywhere you need to in your post. For the Go To code, the only thing people will see is Return to Top. Why? because those words appear between the >< in the Go To code.

You can now do the Return to Top jump in your post.

If you keep reading, I explain about how the two scripts work and what makes parts of them important. If you are simply going to use them as is and you think any further explanation might confuse you then stop now. Just make sure to scroll down to connect with me at various places like Twitter and Facebook.

But if you stay, those two pieces of code will appear again at the end, so you won’t have to scroll back up to get them or worry about copying and pasting right now.

You are still with me. Here is the Generic Anchor (GA) code and the new Top Anchor (TA) code, see how the Anchor code changed?

GA <a id=”unique-identifier“>words for reader to see</a>

TA <a id=”Top“></a>

The unique-identifier was changed to Top. That’s the word I am using to let the Go To code know where to go to. 

The words for reader to see was deleted. I personally don’t want anyone to see something at the top of my article that isn’t part of my article. You can have the word Top in there if you want people to know that’s where the Top is they are going to. The code would look like this

<a id=”Top“>Top</a>

In the Article the Reader would see the word Top in the article.

If I made the code look like this <a id=”Top“>Banana</a> the Reader would see the word Banana in the article.

But to make this work, the important part is that unique-identifier, what is now showing as Top. Now we need the Go To code and something for the Reader to Click so they can Go To the Top.

You have  the Anchor <a id=”Top“></a>
Now here is the Go To <a href=”#Top“>Return to Top</a>

Notice how the word Top appears after the = sign in both of the codes? The words are identical to each other. That is important. The script is case sensitive. Leave that # in the Go To code.

With those two scripts above you can now have some fun. You can put that Anchor at the top of your page, or anywhere in the page for that matter, and then paste that Go To script anywhere you like and as many times as you like.

That’s it for today.

If you want more detail today, and I mean MORE detail, click here. Otherwise I’ll have another article soon with more Page Jump tips. In the meantime,

Let’s connect. and then if you have a How To suggestion click here for the Contact Form.

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You decided you wanted a little more. Okay. Well, it’s a lot more now that I’ve typed it up.

Anchor Code: <a id=”unique-identifier“>words for reader to see</a>

Go To Code: <a href=”#unique-identifier“>words for reader to see and click</a>

You can do all the Page Jumps you want with these two pieces of code. I’ll have posts coming up that breaks them out more but if you want to play a little here’s all you need to do.

See that unique-identifier?

As long as you have that Identical in both codes, you can put them anywhere in your post. You want someone to have the option of skipping down to here, like I did earlier? This is all you do.

Anchor Code: <a id=”here“></a>

Go To Code: <a href=”#here“>here</a>

The id is what is known as a Header. So the id/Header for the page jump to this section equals “here“. So my header is the word here. That lets the Go To Code know what Header word to Reference when looking for where to Go To. See what I did with the red bold letters? href, and what does the Go To Code include? href.

Review for a moment and catch your breath. All of that we just talked about means, the words unique-identifier must be identical in both codes to talk to each other. If they don’t, they won’t work. That’s all we said.

Now to walk through what each part of the Anchor code means. Like I said earlier, I’m not using techie words here. At least not intentionally. If you think is too much, bail now before I confuse you.

<a id=”here“></a>

Each character in the code means something. I may not give you the technical jargon, but I will give you the gist of it all.

  • <a (Tells the blog this HTML script is going to create a link up with another script on the page or another page. That’s what <a means, a link. Just like <p means paragraph.)
  • id=”here“(This is identifying your Header. Your unique place for the Go To Code to unite with. The word you type where it says here is what the Go To Script is going to look for. It’s case sensitive and needs to be exact in both HTML Codes.)
  • >< (Anything between these two will appear to the Reader of the article/post.)
  • /a> (This closes the script. If you don’t have the / in there,  there might be additional words affected. I found that out with another type of script.)

Let’s walk through what each part of the Go To code means. Or at least what it means to us.

<a href=”#here“>here</a>

  • <a (Tells the blog this HTML script is going to create a link up with another script on the page or another page. That’s what <a means, a link. Just like <p means paragraph.)
  • href=“#here“ (This is telling the blog the HTML script is looking for a Header Reference that is equal to a specific word. When you created the Anchor with the Anchor Code you created a Header. Now when a Reader clicks the Go To words your URL will change slightly. For example, when you clicked the word here in order to come down to this part of the page the URL now ends with #here. Notice in the following how it appears when References is used as the Anchor. https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/04/11/japan-manga-comics/#Tezuka6-8)
  • Now this is the cool part. You can put that link, that URL since it has that Header in it, with that #, in your Go To code where it says here, and now Jump To that spot in that page. Because that URL is an Anchor on that other page.) But what would that Go To code look like? <a href=”#https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/04/11/japan-manga-comics/#Tezuka6-8“>here</a>
  • >< (Anything between these two will appear to the Reader of the article/post. This could say here, or Return to Top, or Banana. As long as there is one something in there for the Reader to click, they can Page Jump.)
  • /a> (This closes the script. If you don’t have the / in there, then there might be additional words affected. I found that out with another type of script.)

Now you can see with just these two codes you can do a lot.

Anchor Code: <a id=”unique-identifier“></a>

Go To Code: <a href=”#unique-identifier“>word for readers to see and click</a>

Return to Top


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Success will follow happiness. #BeWoW

Ronovan #BeWoW, Blogging, Writing , , , , , ,

be-wow-bloggerBeing positive is a difficult thing to do at times. Even with a lot of practice, you still have to practice some more. A week or so ago I was in the hospital and I will be honest, blogging wasn’t on my mind. Now, I’ve added a blog.

Writing is my life. I can’t sit around feeling sorry for myself even when dealing with Fibromyalgia or a white cell count double the normal. While in the hospital I was thinking of how to do a new beginning to my novel. I wasn’t happy the previous 3 or 4 versions.

Sitting and dwelling in misery only increases the misery. Now I have been back a week and am busier than before. Three websites, four if you count one I don’t post on unless I am moved to do so. It’s that kind of site. I don’t force it. I am also posting daily, Monday-Friday, writing tips on my Facebook page.

Why? I have lots of reasons.

  • The more I write the better I get.
  • Leaving a paper trail of memories.
  • Supporting authors.
  • Making friends.
  • Supporting bloggers.
  • Inspiring people to try new writing styles.
  • Hosting a Challenge where people have met and become friends.
  • Writing to leave something for my son to be proud of some day.

I noticed as I finished I never mentioned wanting to be famous. Even as an author I don’t really want the fame associated with the success. I just want to be a success as a writer, an author.

I look at writing the way I look at blogging. Do your best, ignore statistics. Get the job done. Be happy doing it. Success will follow.
Let’s connect.

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#BeWoW Blogshare for Wednesday Mar. 25. Are you Ready to be Positive?

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#BeWoW blogshare is Wednesday!

You want a THEME or IDEA for a post? Tell a story about a person that has Inspired you. Reality, TV, Literature, or whatever, tell us about them and not just how they Inspired you, but an almost tribute to them. Even pick a song that you would identify with them if you like.

#BeWoW stands for Be Wonderful on Wednesday. #BeWow is one word. But really you don’t have to wait for Wednesdays. The idea is to post something about Wonderful on Wednesdays, though. There is also the #BeWATT which is for Be Wonderfull All The Time. You can use that any time and I will RT it when I see it and maybe others will as well. I’ll put out another post about #BeWATT soon, but this post is for #BeWoW.

It could be:

  • a  wonderful experience you had last week
  • a wonderful memory that came to you
  • something inspirational or motivational
  • maybe something encouraging
  • just something that brings a feeling of wonderful to you that you want to shareronovan writes

This is an EVERY WEEK THING so by reading this once all the way through, you’ve got it and only need to refer to it each week if you need to. But read it through at least once. If something changes. I’ll put out a special post about it.

THE SIMPLE WAY

Write  a post and share it on Twitter with the #BeWoW and I and others will RT it. If you want to make sure I RT it also include @RonovanWrites when you share it.

This Explained in More Detail with My Post as an Option.

Each Wednesday a post will show up here on RonovanWrites about something Wonderful for me or maybe a #BeWoW Guest Blogger will show up. Post a link to your Wonderful post in the comments to share with everyone. That’s one way it works. Simple as that. Then there is the Twitter way.

Write a post and Tweet it with the hashtag of #BeWoW and to be 100% positive it does get ReTweeted by me you CAN add @RonovanWrites to your Tweet and I’ll RT it. Okay, I’ll RT it when I wake up. 🙂 And other bloggers will be RTing as well when they see it.

Make sure it’s a post that is positive, encouraging, uplifting. I think you get the message here. This is not for just a post you want to share. It MUST have the #BeWoW message of Positivity.

So what do you do?

  1. Create a post or choose one you have that meets the encouraging/positive/wonderful definition.
  2. Share that link from your blog  in MY Wednesday #BeWoW post I put out after midnight Wednesday EST. That way others that drop by here can go check you out if they like. It’s not a requirement, just a way for others to see your post.
  3. When you share your post on Twitter use the hashtag #BeWoW, all one word, which I have registered and am the administrator of, on Wednesdays. We can all ReTweet what we see and like.
  4. You can include my twitter handle of @RonovanWrites in your Tweet and I will RT everything I see that is positive. Please don’t use this for anything but positive things.
  5. Probably Tweeting is the big part of this for some of you. You don’t HAVE to come to my post and comment, but if you would like to and get some people that don’t do Twitter, then go for it.
  6. If you don’t have Twitter, the original idea for this was for sharing amongst Blog World so drop in here and share.
  7. You can also go to our facebook page Be Wonderful on Wednesday where you can put a link to a post. A link to on that page will be Tweeted through my Twitter Handle @RonovanWrites. One thing to remember is when you post a link on the page if you include a hashtag, that hasthtag will carry over to Twitter. This is a great way to have your friends see posts that don’t have Twitter or don’t really visit blogs. Invite them to like the page.
  8. If you just can’t wait until Wednesday? Post and share later and just make sure to Tweet with the hashtag #BeWow and my handle if you remember and the RT will begin.

ronovan writes copyrightThis is the badge you can use if you like to put in your post and/or your sidebar. My side bar I found that 210×210 pixels is as large as it goes and shows everything. Why is there a copyright in the picture? My son “B” and I took the picture. He blew the Bubbles while I was on the ground looking up at the sky. He loved popping them and splashing me with the water. Hey, I thought it was a good idea at the time. At least he laughed. And that’s why I chose it as the Wonderful image.

#BeWoW began as a simple Positivity post on a Wednesday. I wanted to do something that kept me focused on being just that, Positive. Things were suggested and here we are. A registered Hashtag, an official Twitter Handle   There is actually a blog for it, but only as a way of holding the name for when this becomes huge.  There is a facebook page, Be Wonderful on Wednesday where you can put a link to a post. A link to on that page will be Tweeted through my Twitter Handle @RonovanWrites. One thing to remember is when you post a link on the page if you include a hashtag, that hasthtag will carry over to Twitter. Invite your friends to like the page and they can see the links to the posts without Twitter.

I do hope you join in and #BeWoW every day.

And if you do like the idea, please feel free to share this post by reblogging, tweeting or sharing it wherever your blogging friends might see it.

Much Love

@RonovanWrites

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My Blogging from AtoZ Challenge Theme Reveal.

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a to ze blogging challenge image

All links will open in this page, even links within images.

The Annual Blogging from A to Z Challenge. What was I thinking? Me? Confined to a set schedule and theme? Me joining with over 1000 other Bloggers around the world, sharing our posts and blogs?

Would it be poetry, the most likely choice of all for RonovanWrites? Would I do a poetry theme where I had the titles all begin with a certain letter, or each line begin with that letter? Could I do something like that? Well of course I could.

Nah, too easy, right? Although, thinking about it, hmm. Maybe I could do two A to Z Challenges? Do you guys think I could handle two at one time?

For now my idea is to share creators of a type from around the world. We get so caught up in our own little worlds that we forget there are creators out there from places we may never have even heard of.

I wanted to do something different and completely fun for me but also informative and revealing. Something that would be just a joy to research, get into, and just geek out on. Imagine it, from A to Z of creators of Awesomeness. The most Super creators ever. Awesome. And then that poetry idea I have in mind. Hmm.

Not enough of a reveal? I think it’s all here. Hints, clues. I wonder if I need to draw a picture? Hmm.

Want to see all the Blogs involved? A list I mean. Click the link below.

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/a-to-z-challenge-sign-uplist-2015.html

Two at the same time? Can I do it?

We’ll see. ‘Nuff Said.

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How to Combine/Merge Blogs/Move Articles from Blog to Blog or Backup Blog Files.

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Have you ever had more than one blog and then decided you just wanted one? Or have you ever maybe been part of one site and wanted to move something you wrote over to your own personal site? Wish you could combine those blogs into one or move that article over? Maybe you simply want to backup your blog content?

Just to let you know, if any links appear in this article and you click them, they will appear in this window, not a new tab or new window. You will need to click the back arrow to return to this page.

How to Combine or Merge Blogs or move your Articles from one Blog to another.

It’s easier than you think. It looks like a lot of information, but I’m just detailed in my information providing. It is really is easy.

Remember what you move is still on the old blog. You would need to actually delete it from the other site if you wanted to.

First we’re going to Export whatever it is you want to Export.

Step One.

  • Go to the Dashboard of the Blog you are doing away.
  • Go to Tools.
  • Select Export.

In WordPress.com you will see two options you can select.

  • Export-This will create an xml file and it’s Free to do.
  • Guided Transfer-This is for where someone working for WordPress will transfer your Blog content for you to a WordPress.org site for a price.

I of course will be explain the Free way.

Step Two.

  • Click Export.
  • At this point you get to choose what you want to Export.
    • All content.
    • Posts
    • Pages
    • Feedback
  • Choosing All content is self explanatory.
  • Posts you have the following options.
    • Categories-You are able to choose a category to Export. A good idea if you have a lot and want to try it out at first.
    • Authors-That’s right. Choose just one Author to Export their work.
    • Date Range-It’s a Month and Year to Month and Year range.
    • Status-This things such as Published, Scheduled, Drafts, Pending.
  • Pages you will have the following options.
    • Authors-Export just those pages by author
    • Date Range-Again by Month and Year.
    • Status-Just like with Posts. Posts

Step Three.

  • You’ve selected what you want to do.
  • Click Download Export File.
  • A pop up box will open.
  • Make sure the Save File is selected and then click OK.

The File will go to your Download folder on your computer.

Now to Import the File to the other Blog.

 Step One.

  • Go to the Dashboard of the Blog you are doing away.
  • Go to Tools.
  • Select Import-Man, are you going to be surprised at the possibilities.
    • You can actually Import from Blogger, Tumblr, and others. (See details for Blogger at the bottom of this page.)
    • But we’re going to select WordPress.

Step Two.

  • Click WordPress.
  • You will be prompted to Browse for the file that was Exported.
  • Find it and select it.
  • Click Upload file and import.
  • Then you will be prompted to select the Author for the Imported items. If that person doesn’t exist, then assign to another Author.
  • Then click Submit.
  • You will then receive a message on the screen that says you will receive an email with the Import is successful. The Email takes a while at times. I tested it and the Import I did was in the new Blog several minutes before the Email came.
  • When the system and WordPress are done the email will say Import Successful in the Subject. And it will be from WordPress.com. I know that last part sounds like a big of course moment but that’s the detail I give and you would be surprised at how many people might ask if I didn’t tell.

You will want to make sure things are as you like them with your tags and things like that. The content will still be in the other Blog but you can do with it what you like at this point.

You can also download Blogger files and then load them to WordPress but you will need to do some changing once the files are loaded. But you still have everything you need. What do you have to do?

  • Go to your Dashboard on your Blogger.com site or the Design page if you like to use the name you click on to get there.
  • Click on Settings.
  • Click on Other.
  • Then near the top middle of the page you will see three options in blue text. Import Blog, Export Blog, Delete Blog.
  • Click Export Blog.
  • Click Download Blog when the window pops up.
  • Then select Save File ad OK.
  • To Import to WordPress, you do just like Importing from a WordPress Blog.

Hope all of this helps. If you have anything you would like me to write a How To for, go to my About page and fill out the form. I’m always looking for new ways of helping.

Please ReBlog and share if you like. I know some people don’t like that but I am like, um, does it mean people read what I wrote?

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Two Tips For Today: Copy and Courtesy-Making Blogging Easy.

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copying-courtesyA Blogging Tip today? I know, it’s an unusual day for one but with a recent hashtag thing I started I’ve been visiting more blogs lately and have noticed a few things, okay, two things.

 

I’ve discussed one before; Add your website/blog site to your Gravatar.com site . . . PLEASE!

This one may seem a bit odd if to you if I am actually reaching another bloggers site and reading their posts/articles. However, if I read a great and intelligent comment by a blogger and want to try and follow them, I click their name or image and I end up at Gravatar.com. That’s normal. But once there all I see is a picture. Sometimes an email address is there. That doesn’t help to get someone to follow you unless you are wanting a pen pal.

You should be putting links to your blog, twitter, facebook, and/or any other link you want people to connect to you with. I’ve missed the chance to follow dozens of bloggers since I began this site for the simple reason of their being no way to find their site.

Below is the gist of the post I wrote back in August and was one of my most popular post for a long time.

So PLEASE:

  • go to your Gravatar.com,
  • your profile
  • then web sites
  • and add your blog site
  • You can even add your facebook and Twitter or whatever, but PLEASE add your blog site.

Addition to article-There has been mention of About.me in the comments, which I have replied to. Gravatar.com is a site that allows one to link to sites such as WordPress and you can follow blogs and the like and comment as yourself rather than as a guest. About.me is a larger animal. Although Gravatar can do some of the same things it is nowhere near what About.me is. For details on About.me you can visit an article I wrote about it on my LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com site.

https://litworldinterviews.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/how-to-about-me/

Now for the New Tip

There is something that will annoy some visitors to your blog.

Too many clicks to get to the reason they showed up.

You put out that you have an article, but it’s really another click or two away. This comes about because:

  • You may want to let people see an old article you wrote
  • Or some even set it up so only part of their article appears and then you must click read more, or click to continue to get the rest of the article.
  • I’ve seen a guy have three of these for an article.  Each time the page reloaded, the ad banner reloaded. You can probably see what he was doing. I quickly left and never went back.

Here in WordPress, we have something that makes an old post renewed a little more courteous. But why will some not use this or refuse to do so?

Not everyone is like this. Not even the ones I’ve visited lately. Some people just don’t think about it or may not know about it. But,

  • Some like to have that ‘Like’ count go up on the original article. I get that, but I’ve gotten past that part of blogging. I basically want my articles read.
  • Some like the views to go up by having the visitor click twice.

The next time you are in your post editor and you are wanting to create a post:

  • Scroll down and you will find under the Writing Helper section something called  Copy a Post. If you don’t see it, look to the right of the same line Writing Helper is on and you will see a little arrow. Click that and it brings down and reveals Copy a Post and Request Feedback.
  • Click on Copy a Post.
  • Type in the name of the article you want to copy.
  • Click it, now it’s copied. Even the Tags copy with it and the Category. You will need to click Add for the Tags to actually take or appear in the box you are accustomed to seeing them in, and you will need to put in a new Featured Image.

Good Reasons For Copying a Post

  • You want to share the post again without making people clicking a lot to get to it. It’s called courtesy.
  • You want to update an article with new data or other information. If you do this, I would go to the old article and put in a link at the top that says there is more recent data and give the new link. Why not just delete the old article? That’s up to you.
  • You have something that you do each week. Instead of retyping all of it every week, simply copy it and change what you need to.

You can change the name of the article. I just wanted to say that and not assume people would know it.

If you do copy an article for the sake of sharing an old one you may want to consider one courtesy to do;

  • Note at the top of the article that it is a republished copy of an old article for your long time visitors to know.

If I am copying for the sake of updating information, if it is information that is important that it be current, I update it in the old article as well. People link to some of my articles at times and I want to be sure anything they are sending people to me for is as accurate as possible.

Those are the Two Tips for Today. Hope you find them helpful.

Remember to follow me in the following if you can:

@RonovanWrites    Google+   Facebook   GoodReads

Ron_LWI

 

 

 

 

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#BeWoW Blogshare Wednesday. Get those Positive posts ready.

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#BeWoW blogshare is Wednesday!

You want a THEME or IDEA for a post? How about sharing a song on Wednesday that Inspires you, along with the lyrics and the story of why it inspires you.

BeWoW stands for Be Wonderful on Wednesday. #BeWow is one word. But really you don’t have to wait for Wednesdays. The idea is to post something about Wonderful on Wednesdays, though. There is also the #BeWATT which is for Be Wonderfull All The Time. You can use that any time and I will RT it when I see it and maybe others will as well. I’ll put out another post about #BeWATT soon, but this post is for #BeWoW.

It could be:

  • a  wonderful experience you had last week
  • a wonderful memory that came to you
  • something inspirational or motivational
  • maybe something encouraging
  • just something that brings a feeling of wonderful to you that you want to shareronovan writes

This is an EVERY WEEK THING so by reading this once all the way through, you’ve got it and only need to refer to it each week if you need to. But read it through at least once. If something changes. I’ll put out a special post about it.

THE SIMPLE WAY

Write  a post and share it on Twitter with the #BeWoW and I and others will RT it. If you want to make sure I RT it also include @RonovanWrites when you share it.

This Explained in More Detail with My Post as an Option.

Each Wednesday a post will show up here on RonovanWrites about something Wonderful for me or maybe a #BeWoW Guest Blogger will show up. Post a link to your Wonderful post in the comments to share with everyone. That’s one way it works. Simple as that. Then there is the Twitter way.

Write a post and Tweet it with the hashtag of #BeWoW and to be 100% positive it does get ReTweeted by me you CAN add @RonovanWrites to your Tweet and I’ll RT it. Okay, I’ll RT it when I wake up. 🙂 And other bloggers will be RTing as well when they see it.

Make sure it’s a post that is positive, encouraging, uplifting. I think you get the message here. This is not for just a post you want to share. It MUST have the #BeWoW message of Positivity.

So what do you do?

  1. Create a post or choose one you have that meets the encouraging/positive/wonderful definition.
  2. Share that link from your blog  in MY Wednesday #BeWoW post I put out after midnight Wednesday EST. That way others that drop by here can go check you out if they like. It’s not a requirement, just a way for others to see your post.
  3. When you share your post on Twitter use the hashtag #BeWoW, all one word, which I have registered and am the administrator of, on Wednesdays. We can all ReTweet what we see and like.
  4. You can include my twitter handle of @RonovanWrites in your Tweet and I will RT everything I see that is positive. Please don’t use this for anything but positive things.
  5. Probably Tweeting is the big part of this for some of you. You don’t HAVE to come to my post and comment, but if you would like to and get some people that don’t do Twitter, then go for it.
  6. If you don’t have Twitter, the original idea for this was for sharing amongst Blog World so drop in here and share.
  7. You can also go to our facebook page Be Wonderful on Wednesday where you can put a link to a post. A link to on that page will be Tweeted through my Twitter Handle @RonovanWrites. One thing to remember is when you post a link on the page if you include a hashtag, that hasthtag will carry over to Twitter. This is a great way to have your friends see posts that don’t have Twitter or don’t really visit blogs. Invite them to like the page.
  8. If you just can’t wait until Wednesday? Post and share later and just make sure to Tweet with the hashtag #BeWow and my handle if you remember and the RT will begin.

ronovan writes copyrightThis is the badge you can use if you like to put in your post and/or your sidebar. My side bar I found that 210×210 pixels is as large as it goes and shows everything. Why is there a copyright in the picture? My son “B” and I took the picture. He blew the Bubbles while I was on the ground looking up at the sky. He loved popping them and splashing me with the water. Hey, I thought it was a good idea at the time. At least he laughed. And that’s why I chose it as the Wonderful image.

#BeWoW began as a simple Positivity post on a Wednesday. I wanted to do something that kept me focused on being just that, Positive. Things were suggested and here we are. A registered Hashtag, an official Twitter Handle   There is actually a blog for it, but only as a way of holding the name for when this becomes huge.  There is a facebook page, Be Wonderful on Wednesday where you can put a link to a post. A link to on that page will be Tweeted through my Twitter Handle @RonovanWrites. One thing to remember is when you post a link on the page if you include a hashtag, that hasthtag will carry over to Twitter. Invite your friends to like the page and they can see the links to the posts without Twitter.

I do hope you join in and #BeWoW every day.

And if you do like the idea, please feel free to share this post by reblogging, tweeting or sharing it wherever your blogging friends might see it.

Much Love

@RonovanWrites

Ronovan Writes

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Are you a Blog Hijacker?

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The original version of this article I was working was huge. I’m going to try to make it simple.

What is a Blog Hijacker?

A person that comments on a post and does at least one of the following on several posts:

  • Writes a comment that is so long it should be a post of its own and is mostly about the bloggers own blog and writing. Meaning you CAN TELL it is an obvious self promotion comment.
  • Comments some nonsense and leaves links to their own blog when it’s obvious they haven’t even read the post.
  • They reply to other commenters with what they think you meant by your post.

You are probably able to come up with some additional Blog Hijacker behavior. If you do, leave them in the comments. I mean that.

What if YOU are a Blog Hijacker?

If you are doing these things be careful, they WILL eventually have a negative impact on your own blog.

  • People will begin to notice and stop visiting your blog.
  • Not only the people you are doing it to, but their friends that are seeing your comments.
  • You will one day wonder why you haven’t seen ‘likes’ from someone in a while.

Most comments should be:

  • To the point, unless the blogger has asked for comments that are of an engaging nature or you are sincerely commenting with honest feeling.
  • Supportive and/or complimentary or at least leaving an intelligently and courteously phrased comment about why you don’t agree with a post.

I personally don’t do the last one unless the blogger has asked for feedback of that nature. If I don’t like it I am going to move on and not be negative in another persons creative realm. However, I rarely find a post that is a waste of my time. I learn from most blogs. I learn what is bad and what is good. Both are instructional.

Do not mistake Blog Hijacking for being supportive.

  • Look at what you are writing and see where the focus is.
  • Is the focus on the post and the content and how it affects you, the blogger, or yourself?
  • If the answer is mostly that last one, you’re Blog Hijacking.

How do you know if you are a Blog Hijacker if no one tells you AND you are doing these things?

  • Are you receiving comments from the blogger when there should be a reply from them?
  • Do your comments not receive ‘likes’ by the host when all others do?

Now for me, I use ‘likes’ to talk to people who comment. Unless there really is a reason to reply, I click like.It lets them know I read it and appreciated it.

Added for clarification:

Sometimes a post asks for comments that may be about self. That is the nature of some blogs entirely. Commenting about how the post relates to you and may touch you is great.

What this post is about are those random comments with links and off the wall unrelated comments or those people who as you read the comment you can tell are self promoting. We, as bloggers, love comments. It lets us know we are getting something right.

So those of you out there who write comments with honest feelings, you are good to go with commenting. Those of you who read your comment and realize, hey, this really is all about my own blog and does look like I’m trying to get people to go read my blog, well, maybe see if there is another way to do some phrasing.

As a result of putting out this post I want to let people know I’ve lost some friends who didn’t get it. They either misunderstood OR perhaps felt they were Blog Hijackers. I’m going to continue to be honest in my tips and helps. It is impossible for me not to be. Since I suffered a concussion I tell it like it is. And I rarely say anything maliciously. I’m not sure I have.

Remember to connect with me if you can at the following.

 @RonovanWrites    Google+   Facebook   GoodReads

Ron_LWI

 

 

 

 

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#BeWoW Blogshare Wednesday. Get those Positive posts ready.

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , , , ,

#BeWoW blogshare is Wednesday!

BeWoW stands for Be Wonderful on Wednesday. #BeWow is one word. But really you don’t have to wait for Wednesdays. The idea is to post something about Wonderful on Wednesdays, though.

It could be:

  • a  wonderful experience you had last week
  • a wonderful memory that came to you
  • something inspirational or motivational
  • maybe something encouraging
  • just something that brings a feeling of wonderful to you that you want to shareronovan writes

Each Wednesday a post will show up here on RonovanWrites about something Wonderful for me or maybe a #BeWoW Guest Blogger will show up. Post a link to your Wonderful post in the comments to share with everyone. That’s one way it works. Simple as that. The there is the Twitter way.

Write a post and Tweet it with the hashtag of #BeWoW and to be 100% positive it does get ReTweeted by me you CAN add @RonovanWrites to your Tweet and I’ll RT it. Okay, I’ll RT it when I wake up. 🙂 And other bloggers will be RTing as well when they see it.

Make sure it’s a post that is positive, encouraging, uplifting. I think you get the message here. This is not for just a post you want to share. It MUST have the #BeWoW message of Positivity.

So what do you do?

  1. Create a post or choose one you have that meets the encouraging/positive/wonderful definition.
  2. Share that link from your blog  in MY Wednesday #BeWoW post I put out after midnight Wednesday EST. That way others that drop by here can go check you out if they like. It’s not a requirement, just a way for others to see your post.
  3. When you share your post on Twitter use the hashtag #BeWoW, all one word, which I have registered and am the administrator of, on Wednesdays. We can all ReTweet what we see and like.
  4. You can include my twitter handle of @RonovanWrites in your Tweet and I will RT everything I see that is positive. Please don’t use this for anything but positive things.
  5. Probably Tweeting is the big part of this for some of you. You don’t HAVE to come to my post and comment, but if you would like to and get some people that don’t do Twitter, then go for it.
  6. If you don’t have Twitter, the original idea for this was for sharing amongst Blog World so drop in here and share.
  7. You can also go to our facebook page Be Wonderful on Wednesday where you can put a link to a post. A link to on that page will be Tweeted through my Twitter Handle @RonovanWrites. One thing to remember is when you post a link on the page if you include a hashtag, that hasthtag will carry over to Twitter. This is a great way to have your friends see posts that don’t have Twitter or don’t really visit blogs. Invite them to like the page.
  8. If you just can’t wait until Wednesday? Post and share later and just make sure to Tweet with the hashtag #BeWow and my handle if you remember and the RT will begin.

ronovan writes copyrightThis is the badge you can use if you like to put in your post and/or your sidebar. My side bar I found that 210×210 pixels is as large as it goes and shows everything. Why is there a copyright in the picture? My son “B” and I took the picture. He blew the Bubbles while I was on the ground looking up at the sky. He loved popping them and splashing me with the water. Hey, I thought it was a good idea at the time. At least he laughed. And that’s why I chose it as the Wonderful image.

#BeWoW began as a simple Positivity post on a Wednesday. I wanted to do something that kept me focused on being just that, Positive. Things were suggested and here we are. A registered Hashtag, an official Twitter Handle   There is actually a blog for it, but only as a way of holding the name for when this becomes huge.  There is a facebook page, Be Wonderful on Wednesday where you can put a link to a post. A link to on that page will be Tweeted through my Twitter Handle @RonovanWrites. One thing to remember is when you post a link on the page if you include a hashtag, that hasthtag will carry over to Twitter. Invite your friends to like the page and they can see the links to the posts without Twitter.

I do hope you join in and #BeWoW every day.

And if you do like the idea, please feel free to share this post by reblogging, tweeting or sharing it wherever your blogging friends might see it.

Much Love

Ronovan

Ronovan Writes

 

 

 

 

 

@RonovanWrites

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